Breathing Mass · HB01

The Hyper Lung takes the tower's least interesting element (the core) and gives it the building's main job. Around it, a topology-optimised skeleton thickens where load demands and thins where it does not.

Context

IAAC · Barcelona

Year

2026

Stack

Topology optimisation · Alpaca · Grasshopper · Radiation analysis

Brief

A vertical ecosystem in Santiago where architecture, wind, and energy converge. The Hyper Lung captures, cleans, and redistributes polluted air through a breathing core, transforming the tower into living infrastructure that breathes with the city.

01 · Concept

The core does the breathing

Santiago's air is the site condition. The tower captures, cleans and redistributes it through a breathing core, which turns a building into a piece of civic infrastructure rather than a neighbour to it.

THE ALVEOLAR SPINE – THE LUNG ANALOGY STEP 01 – Defining the Primary Skeleton The design begins by setting hard constraints for the core dimensions, including total height and radius. This phase focuses solely on structural integrity and the "maximum envelope" of the building structure. STEP 02 – Primary Structural Framing & Modular Unit Integration The building's stability is anchored by a Topology-Optimized Primary Skeleton. Using Alpaca Stress Analysis, the lattice density is strategically increased at high-load junctions and tapered in low-stress zones. The placement and density of the plugin masses are computationally grown along the lattice, with their distribution optimized by incident radiation for thermal regulation, wind pressure for airflow, and volumetric density. STEP 03 – Fixed vs. Adaptive Facade The placement and density of the plugin masses are computationally grown along the lattice, with their distribution optimized by incident radiation for thermal regulation, wind pressure for airflow, and volumetric density.

02 · Structure

A skeleton grown from its own stresses

The primary lattice is topology-optimised: Alpaca stress analysis drives density up at high-load junctions and tapers it through low-stress zones. Plugin masses are distributed along that lattice by incident radiation, so structure and thermal performance are resolved together.

Lattice density: Driven by stress analysis
Mass placement: Driven by incident radiation

03 · Outcome

Three cores, one self-braced system

Load runs from volume to core to foundation, with three cores forming a triangle that turns vertical mass into a self-braced structural system: the arrangement the whole geometry is organised to make possible.

Breathing Mass · HB01 — 10 — STRUCTURAL CONCEPT The structural approach of the project relies on the core that holds the entire project, where each volume is plugged onto the core. By that, the load is transferred from volume to core to foundation. 3 main cores form a triangle that turns vertical mass into a self-braced structural system.

Next project

Collaborative Workflow · Structure/Facade